Loss Of Natural Land Research Articles

Global correlates of range contractions and expansions in terrestrial mammals

Understanding changes in species distributions is essential to disentangle the mechanisms that drive their responses to anthropogenic habitat modification. Here we analyse the past (1970s) and current (2017) distribution of 204 species of terrestrial non-volant mammals to identify drivers of recent contraction and expansion in their range. We find 106 species lost part of their past range, and 40 of them declined by >50%. The key correlates of this contraction are large body mass, increase in air temperature, loss of natural land, and high human population density. At the same time, 44 species have some expansion in their range, which correlates with small body size, generalist diet, and high reproductive rates. Our findings clearly show that human activity and life history interact to influence range changes in mammals. While the former plays a major role in determining contraction in species’ distribution, the latter is important for both contraction and expansion.

Urban sprawl on natural lands: analyzing and predicting the trend of land use changes and sprawl in Mazandaran city region, Iran

Land use changes, sprawl and its implications for natural lands (garden, agricultural and cultivated lands) have received increasing consideration in many countries and regions over the past decades. However, our knowledge of analysis of land use changes and urban sprawl resulted by the loss of natural land is still unclear specifically in developing countries such as Iran. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze and predict the trend of land use changes and sprawl since 1986–2040 in Mazandaran city region in the northern part of Iran. In this regard, the SLEUTH and Land Transformation Models (LTM) were used to predict the use of natural lands. The data used in this study included satellite images of remote sensing (Landsat TM) in 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2015. Results show that the process of destruction of natural lands has intensified in favor of construction process, in a way that built-up lands with a growth rate of 4.79% changed from 30.91 km2 in 1986 to 120.04 km2 in 2015. It is predicted that built-up lands will increase by 4.82% growth in 2040. While, garden lands will have 1.3% decrease because of its adjacent to urban lands and locating in the built-up areas. Most changes in forest lands have been reduced by 1.8% if these lands are highly valued as national and regional potentials and may change the animal and plant species cycle. Agricultural lands have been reduced by 1.12%, but due to the fact that the largest share of land in the study area is cultivated and its decline is less than that of other lands. The trend of land use changes indicates that the region will inevitably develop and expand in the future. But, its consequences can be controlled by applying suitable policies and solutions.

An exploratory spatial analysis of projected hotspots of population growth, natural land loss, and climate change in the conterminous United States

Considering expected population growth and changes in landuse and climate, it is important to understand whether and where the relative change in one or more of these stressors will most likely impact natural and human systems. This study employed exploratory spatial data analysis of population growth, loss of natural land, and climate change data, all projected at county level for the conterminous United States as part of the USDA Forest Service's 2010 RPA Assessment. Location and geographical extent of projected significant “hotspots” of individual and multiple stressors were analyzed with respect to the location of at-risk natural ecosystems (protected lands, imperiled species) and the social and economic characteristics of human population within and outside the hotspots. While hotspots of projected climate change are broadly distributed across the Southwest, Northern Midwest, and Northeast, hotspots of projected natural land loss clustered in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest, and the primary area of overlap for multiple changes was the Southwest. Most counties in hotspots are currently home to higher numbers of at-risk or listed threatened and endangered (T&E) species than those outside. Also, up to three-quarters of the lands stringently managed to preserve their unique natural and scientific values are projected to be in hotspots of one or more stressors. Findings will be useful in identifying areas in which the greatest emerging land use management challenges will likely be concentrated due to change in one or more stressors. Findings will also inform land use planning decisions, and most importantly, provide information that will prioritize limited resources for mitigation, restoration, and management in areas of highest need. While our analysis shows notable differences in social and economic characteristics of counties projected to be in and outside hotspots, it also suggests the need for an in-depth study to compare sensitivity and adaptive capacity at community scale to compare the vulnerability of communities.

Urban Sprawl Monitoring

Urban sprawl is a common phenomenon in developed and developing countries. Population growth and immigration to cities are the most important reason to such urban expansions. Out layer growths which in the most cases results sprawl has so many attractions such as low rate of crime, lower costs of living and clean air. These are probably the reasons to rapid increase of this phenomenon. Urban sprawl is a kind of growth in cities which have derived so many negative impacts such as agriculture and natural land loss, environmental pollution, high rate of travel time and costs, high rate of energy consuming and etc.,. Thus, analyzing and monitoring urban area is a key task for urban planning to inform about urban growth. Numerous researches have attempted to characterize and explain urban sprawl. In this study, we implemented Shannon Entropy for assessments of urban sprawl. The case study is Tehran Metropolis which has experienced so fast urbanization and population growth in the recent decades.

Measuring Canadian urban expansion and impacts on work-related travel distance: 1966–2001

This article presents measurement of the dynamics and impacts of Canadian urban growth during 1966–2001 derived from information assimilation of Landsat satellite image interpretations and historical land use maps. We have examined key variables characterizing the urban expansion process, such as urban land area, dwelling density, population density and natural land loss. For major Canadian urban areas, dwelling densities in newly developed areas are found to have decreased over time. The trends suggest that low-density residential suburbanization is the dominant urban expansion process in Canada. While population densities in major metropolitan areas have remained constant or increased over the past 15 years, densities in smaller communities have decreased. A by-product of Canadian urban expansion has been modified intra-urban travel behaviour. The impacts of road network connectivity and changing urban form on attributes of urban transportation are discussed through a series of case studies.